Minor raped, set on fire by juveniles in Bengal

Barely a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused the media in Bengal for polluting ‘tender minds’ by giving undue coverage to rape incidents, the police had to register an FIR into the rape of a minor by three juvenile offenders in Baruipur, near Kolkata.

What made the crime extra heinous was the fact that the three juveniles, aged between 12 and 16, set the 14-year-old girl on fire after raping her. The daughter of a daily labourer, the victim is battling for her life at SSKM hospital in Kolkata.

According to police, the three boys —local residents of the area — entered her room on Tuesday afternoon and raped her. Later, they poured kerosene on her before setting her afire and fleeing. Neighbours rushed the girl to the hospital.

“Rapes are being highlighted everyday, as if the entire state has become a land of rapists. They are glorifying rape. This leaves a bad impact on the society,” the chief minister said at a function held on Monday evening.

Today, bound by the chief minister’s wish to keep incidents of rape under wraps, police maintained a stony silence. While the father of the victim, Sukumar Bikram, and mother Rita Bikram informed the media about the incident, the authorities did not say much. “We are looking into the matter,” was all that additional SP (rural) Shankarprasad Barui commented.

However, sources said the juvenile offenders were hauled up after a complaint was lodged at the Baruipur police station. The accused were not produced in court on Wednesday.